Current Thoughts on the UV-5R

I got my HAM Technician license some time ago after reading the Rawles' book Patriots. After a couple of months of researching into different radios, and watching a ton of Youtube, I finally decided to just bite the bullet and get a UV-5R.

I mainly wanted a mobile unit that I could rig into my truck, but price point and confusion (I still don't know what I'm doing) caused me to be a bit cautious before jumping off the high dive into the HAM radio world. 

So from a complete beginner's perspective, what do I think about the UV-5R?

Pros

• It's hard to beat a price point of $25 for entering a "hobby". Plus at that price, I can have backups or radios in different vehicles at all times.
• The thing is teeny, so it's easy to throw along in a bag or even in a glove box.
• There's a lot of videos out there  showing you how to use the thing.

Cons

• The enclosed instruction manual sucks. I've read through that thing how many times, and I still barely have a clue about what's going on. Supposedly, the UV-5R is pretty notorious for how terrible its manual is, so it doesn't look like I'm alone in thinking this. 
• The thing is teeny.
• The buttons are pretty confusing. I still have a hard time figuring out how to correctly hit the function I want to reach.  
• Programming is a pain in the butt. You essentially have to use CHIRP to program the thing, which means buying a specialized USB cable, and downloading CHIRP to your computer. 
• It only takes a charge from the specialized charger. No ability to use a standard USB, something which the UV-3R does. 
• I haven't had the best of luck with range so far. Supposedly, the enclosed antenna is pretty weak from what I've read. 

Concluding Thoughts

Looking at all that there's a whole lot more to the "con" list than there is with the "pros". But does that mean I hate the radio? By no means! Even despite all of the cons, given the chance, I would still choose this as my first radio. You simply can't beat the cost. Yeah, I know a lot of HAM purists hate the Chinese stuff - particularly Baofeng - but I would much rather learn what I like/don't like about HAM on a $25 handheld compared to a $1000 base station.